


Your Mornings Look Nothing like Mine

by bakerblake



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrinette, Amnesia, Chat gets hurt during a fight, F/M, Fluff and Angst, LadyNoir - Freeform, Marichat, or is it hmmmmmm, slowburn? kinda?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-16
Updated: 2018-09-16
Packaged: 2018-12-30 15:19:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12111561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bakerblake/pseuds/bakerblake
Summary: “I don’t understand, Alya. Why would Chat Noir want to see me?”A deep sigh came from the other end of the phone. “Didn’t you tell me that you helped him once? When Nathanaël got akumatized? And he has saved you plenty of times, you two are practically friends!”“But –”“No buts.”“Yeah, but –”“Marinette, listen. Chat Noir, the hero of Paris is asking to see you. You have to come here immediately.”- - - - -Chat Noir wakes up after an akuma attack, unable to remember anything that happened that day. Still, despite his memory loss he suddenly knows things, things that he really shouldn't know.Soon Marinette starts to wonder if this person even truly is her Chat Noir.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this in like 3 days, which is why it might feel a bit rushed and be full of spelling/grammar errors. Sorry in advance :p I'll try to fix them later!!

Ladybug sat in the corner of the small room, her fingers restlessly tapping the arms of her chair as she stared at Chat Noir’s unconscious body. She brought her other hand to her mouth to bite her fingernails, only to realize that she couldn’t because her hands were gloved. A frustrated sigh left her lips as she tried to gather her scattered thoughts.

Why oh why was she stuck with such a reckless, careless partner? She wished more than anything that she wouldn’t have to worry about the idiot every single time they fought together. It wasn’t good for her health.

Chat’s chest moved peacefully under the white hospital blanket but the movement did nothing to soothe Ladybug’s nerves. Something strange and unfamiliar scared her on a level she had never even known existed. Nothing like this had ever happened before.

Chat had got injured during a fight. _Physically_ injured, which was new to both of them. He got mind controlled often, yes. He had been erased from the timeline once, correct. But not once had either of them been knocked unconscious before. Ladybug hadn’t even thought that it was possible. Clearly, she had been wrong.

Sure, it hurt a tiny bit when an akuma kicked you in the face, but the pain only lasted for a few seconds. They were superheroes after all, with superpowers and supersuits and super kwamis who protected them. They never got injured seriously, the small scratches healed almost immediately.

Not this time though. After shaking and shaking his body without getting any response, Ladybug had had to carry her partner to the hospital. The moment she had stepped inside the building the place had filled with reporters and curious Parisians. Luckily, the nurses had given them a private room where no one else was allowed.

That had been 20 minutes ago. And Chat still didn’t show any signs of waking up. Ladybug felt like she was about to lose her damn mind. She would even listen to her partner’s insanely lame puns if it meant that he would wake up and be alright.

“Please, be alright”, she couldn’t help but whisper.

Nothing but silence answered her.

The nurses and doctors had told her that, externally, there didn’t seem to be anything wrong with Chat Noir. They couldn’t find any wounds or bruises or blood on his body that would even indicate that he’d been hurt, but Ladybug knew that this was serious. The doctors told her that they would wait for him to wake up and then examine him again. They had told her to wait.

And that was exactly what she was going to do. She would not leave this room until Chat woke up.

Although... the akuma _was_ still running around free, creating chaos by attacking every single bakery and café it could find. One of the least scary villains Ladybug had met so far if she was completely honest. The akuma victim had apparently been furious that his favourite pastry had already been sold out before he could buy any, and Papillon had decided that yes, he was desperate enough to create a villain who wants to steal strawberry cheesecake from every single bakery in Paris, and name the villain ‘Sweet Tooth’. The akuma’s speciality was to throw sticky cake dough at people.

That was probably the lamest part. The akuma was so terrible at its job that it had not even once tried to take their Miraculous and _still..._ The memory of Chat getting punched by the dough, flailing for a second and then hitting the back of his head on the ground with an audible _crack_ made a shiver run through Ladybug. As pathetic as it had looked, the sound had been gut-wrenching. She could still hear it echoing in her ears.

But honestly. What kind of superhero got knocked out because _chocolate_ _filled_ _dough_ _hit_ _their_ _face_? The fantastic Chat Noir, evidently.

Oh well. As long as the akuma didn’t touch _her_ home and _her_ parents' bakery she would remain here until Chat Noir woke up. Then they'd kick the villain’s ass.

Chat... was going to wake up soon, wasn’t he?

As if on cue, Ladybug heard movement – the quiet rustle of the bed sheets. Her eyes snapped back to the sleeping boy, who wasn’t asleep anymore. Gasping, she jumped up, instantly rushing to his side. She took his hand – why was it so cold? – panic and relief shining in her eyes.

“Chat? Can you hear me?”

His eyes were only half open, and for a moment Ladybug was sure that he was just going to fall back asleep. But then nervous blue met hazy green, and a small, sleepy, _adorable_ smile spread across the boy’s lips. Ladybug’s heart fluttered when another trickle of relief went through her body.

Yep, Chat was going to be fine.

Opening his mouth slowly, Chat Noir mumbled something. Ladybug’s ears just couldn’t understand what he was saying.

“Hey, it’s okay, take it easy”, she quickly reassured him and squeezed his hand.

Chat’s unfocused eyes wandered around the room slowly. He looked like he understood nothing that was going on. He probably had no idea where he was or why he was there.

“Mm... Ma–”

“Don’t speak”, Ladybug said, shaking her head with a gentle smile on her lips. “Take your time. It’s going to be alright.”

Blinking sleepily, Chat sighed at her soothing words and stopped murmuring. Then he closed his eyes. In seconds, he was asleep again.

Ladybug’s yoyo beeped. A new update on the Ladyblog.

The akuma was heading towards the Dupain-Cheng bakery.

Ladybug cursed under her breath. For a long moment, her eyes moved back and forth between the closed door and her partner. In the end, she huffed.

“Sorry, Chat”, she said as she stood up, “but I have to go. I’ll be back soon though, so don’t worry.”

Slow, deep breaths were his answer. Ladybug showed her partner a quick, sad smile and left.

On her way out, she told the nurses to let Alya Césaire in and ask her to wait outside Chat’s room. The girl who ran the Ladyblog would surely be the first one to let her readers – and Ladybug, too – know if Chat Noir woke up before the heroine could get back.

 

\- - - -

 

“Ahh, Tikki, I’m exhausted!” Marinette whined as she fell face down on her bed.

Tikki just nibbled her cookie happily. “But didn’t you say that this was one of the weakest villains so far? You managed to defeat it even without Chat Noir’s help. Good job, Marinette!”

The room fell silent for a moment.

“It’s because of Chat”, Marinette confessed, mumbling quietly against her pillow. “I’m worried. Did anything like this ever happen to any of the past Chat Noirs?”

Tikki tapped her chin, thoughtful, and a few chocolate chips fell to the floor. “Hmm, can’t remember. But if something like this did happen before and I’ve already forgotten about it, it must mean that it was nothing too serious. I’m sure your Chat Noir will be alright, too.”

Tikki calling him _her_ Chat Noir almost made Marinette’s cheeks turn pink, but she fought the feeling. Instead, she shook her head lightly and smiled at her tiny friend.

“Thank you. I’m sure you’re right.”

Tikki smiled back, waving her cookie – or what was left of it anymore. "I’m almost done and then we can go straight back to the hospital.”

“Sounds good.”

While waiting for her kwami, Marinette opened the Ladyblog. The latest update was from 7 minutes ago, informing the citizens that the danger was over, Ladybug had single-handedly taken care of Sweet Tooth. 20 minutes ago Alya had uploaded a shaky video of the hospital’s empty waiting room where she explains, overly excited, that Ladybug had trusted her enough to let her keep an eye on the injured cat.

Marinette sighed. So, Chat still had not woken up.

“Alright!” Tikki exclaimed then, flying around the room. “I’m good to go!”

Nodding, Marinette opened her mouth, but before she could say the magic words, her phone started ringing. The girl quickly raised her index finger, telling Tikki to wait a minute. The caller was Alya.

Marinette frowned with momentary confusion before answering. “Hello? Alya?”

 _“_ _MARINETTE, HOLY SHIT, GET YOUR ASS HERE IMMEDIATELY!”_

A startled shriek left Marinette’s lips. Holding the phone away from her ear to save her hearing, she briefly met Tikki’s worried gaze. Marinette shrugged. She wasn’t too surprised, this was Alya after all.

 _“_ _Marinette? Hey? Are you there?”_

“Yeah, yeah, are you trying to make me deaf?” she finally asked, annoyed as she rubbed her damaged ear. “What’s wrong? Aren’t you at the hospital with, ah, Chat Noir?”

 _“_ _Oh, so you watched the video? Good. Yes, I am, and you need to come here, too. Right now.”_

Marinette frowned again. “Why?”

 _“_ _It’s about Chat Noir.”_

Her heart immediately missed a beat. A very important beat, she thought, because suddenly there was a sharp pain in her chest and her throat felt uncomfortably dry. Her worry grew.

“Is...” She took a moment to gulp. “Is he okay?”

 _“_ _Well, I’m not sure, but I think so.”_ Marinette could hear both confusion and excitement in her friend’s voice, which in return confused _her_. _“He’s awake...”_

Marinette couldn’t help but exhale loudly, endlessly relieved.

 _“..._ _and has been asking for you.”_

Marinette’s breath caught painfully in her already dry throat. She was quite sure that this time her heart skipped so many beats it was going to be damaged permanently. The short silence seemed to last for hours as Alya waited for her reply.

What what _what_? Surely she had heard wrong?

“For... For _me_?” Her voice was small. “A-are you sure?”

 _“_ _Yes. Apparently, he’s pretty out of it, doesn’t remember what happened or how he got here. I heard the nurses wondering who this 'Marinette’ might be that he keeps asking to see. I told them that I know you and they asked me to call you.”_

What the hell was going on...

“U-um, shouldn’t we first let Ladybug know about this or something?” Marinette tried, her thoughts a mess. “Because I don’t understand. Why would Chat Noir want to see _me_?”

 _“_ _I was hoping you would tell me that.”_

“Bu-but what if it’s not me? What if he’s talking about someone else who is also named Marinette?”

A deep sigh came from the other end of the phone. _“I don’t think so. Besides, didn’t you tell me that you helped him once? When Nathanaël got akumatized? And he has saved you plenty of times, you two are practically friends!”_

“But –”

 _“_ _No buts. I’ll post an update on the Ladyblog so that Ladybug can know he’s awake. I’m actually surprised she’s not back yet...”_

“Ye-yeah, but –”

 _“_ _Marinette, listen. Chat Noir, **the** Chat Noir, the hero of Paris is asking to see you. You **have to** come here immediately.”_

“I _know_ , but…” she started again but only ended up biting her lip when she realized that she didn’t even know what to say. She couldn’t say that there were alarm bells going off inside her head. She couldn’t tell Alya that if she was there then Ladybug wouldn’t show up. Even the thought of Chat somehow knowing her identity crossed her mind, making nervous goosebumps prickle across her back.

A quiet snort escaped her. What was she thinking? As if. There was no way Chat could have figured out who she was when she herself had no idea whatsoever who Chat could be. There was nothing to worry.

 _But_ , warned the small voice in her head. Why else would he want her there?

Marinette shook her head lightly, getting rid of the voice. She turned to look at Tikki and they both nodded.

“Okay, you win”, Marinette told Alya. “I’ll be there in about 10 minutes.”

 _“_ _Good. Oh, and Marinette?”_ Alya stopped her right when she was about to hang up. She could almost see how her friend raised an eyebrow. _“You do know how suspicious this looks like, right? I want to know everything.”_

Shaking her head again, Marinette sighed. “I promise you that I have no clue what’s going on.”

 

\- - - -

 

Marinette ran. Of course she did. She ran as fast as her legs let her, the sound of her worried steps echoing through the hospital as she rapidly headed down the hallway towards Chat’s room. Alya was there waiting for her with one of the nurses Marinette had already met once today as Ladybug.

“Wow, you were quicker than I thought you’d be”, Alya praised, genuinely surprised. “You got here in _less_ than ten minutes. This must be a miracle.”

Panting and tired, Marinette resisted the urge to glare at her friend. She turned to the nurse, completely ignoring Alya’s remark. The woman before her looked tense and troubled, and it made something immediately twist in the pit of Marinette’s stomach, sweat almost trickling down her face.

“You’re Marinette, correct?”

“I am.”

The nurse nodded, silently giving her the permission to enter Chat’s room. “Let’s hope that Ladybug shows up soon. We... we don’t really know what to do with him. We need to make sure everything is okay, but he won’t let us even touch him until he has seen you. It would be greatly appreciated if you could convince him to let us help.”

Marinette could only laugh nervously. She promised to do her best, silently grateful that the nurse didn’t ask her any questions.

Her whole body was stiff when she knocked on the door, afraid of the chaos she might see inside. Alya immediately took out her phone, ready to film. The nurse stopped her before she could follow her friend into the private room.

“I’m sorry, miss, but you have to wait here.”

Alya pouted, crossing her arms across her chest and looking like a little child who was throwing a tantrum. Her curiosity was almost killing her. Marinette was her best friend, which automatically meant that she had the right to go in, too, right?

Alya waited for the nurse to disappear out of sight before leaning against the door, wishing she had super ears. No use. It was like the room was sound proof.

Alya huffed loudly. This didn’t mean that she was going to give up, oh no. Once Marinette had had her chat with the superhero, she was going to drown her in questions.

 

\- - - -

 

At first glance it looked like Chat had once again fallen asleep; his eyes were shut, breathing steady. But the moment Marinette closed the door as softly as she could, his cat ears twitched and his eyes opened. Their gazes met. His green wasn’t hazy anymore.

Marinette didn’t like the way her heart stilled for a second. She wished she could have transformed before coming here but even so, it was good to see him awake.

“Hi”, she greeted cautiously, voice quiet. She didn’t really know what to expect.

A long sigh fell from her partner’s visibly chapped lips. Chat sat up, waved his hand and offered her a warm smile, looking like nothing was out of the ordinary. The relieved look on his face was confusing to her to say the least. Of course she was happy to know that he was okay, but...

“It’s so good to see you”, he said, sighing again.

Slowly, she walked forward, her blue eyes guarded. “Um, you said you wanted to see me?”

He simply nodded, that dumb smile still lingering on his face.

Marinette bit her lip. “Okay, uh. Why exactly did you want to see _me_? I’m... um, Marinette?” She didn’t know why the last words came out as a question.

It was Chat’s turn to look confused. He eyed her for a moment, frowning. Finally, his eyes widened when he seemed to realize what the problem was.

“Oh, yeah, sorry about that.” He really did look apologetic, head bowing a little, cheeks turning slightly pink under the mask. “I know I should have been more careful, but I panicked when I woke up here alone! It probably seemed pretty weird to others that I asked to see you.”

Marinette raised an eyebrow at him. “Oh yeah, you think? Alya is waiting for me outside, hoping that I’ll spill all your secrets once we’re done.”

Chat let out a soft chuckle. It was raspy, still heavy with sleep. Also, the fact that he had hit the back of his head pretty hard might have had something to do with his hoarse voice. Maybe he was still so out of it that that was why he had asked to see _Marinette_.

Pausing for a moment, the girl thought about what Chat had just said. 'Should have been more careful’? Huh?

She waited for him to continue, to explain why he wanted her there. Chat said nothing. He just leaned back, closed his eyes and hummed softly, like he had just wanted to be in her presence, like that was enough. Marinette frowned harder.

After a few minutes of really strange silence (because when did Chat ever keep his mouth shut this long?), Marinette felt like she should leave, her whole body almost itching to transform into Ladybug so that she could talk to Chat Noir properly. She couldn’t help but feel uneasy just standing there, looking at the small smile on her partner’s lips. It was quite obvious that he didn’t really _need_ her there for anything.

So, she decided to open her mouth. “Well, uh, what did the doctors tell you?”

Keeping his eyes closed, Chat shrugged. “I appear to have lost some of my recent memories, like memories of today’s fight, but otherwise I’m completely healthy. The doctors are pretty sure that my amnesia is only temporary so no worries!”

Opening his eyes for a second, he winked at her and flashed a charming smile. Marinette was just so, so baffled. Out of all people, why was Chat telling _her_ all of these things? They had talked, what, four times in total? Why wasn’t he more worried about Ladybug not being there?

“The nurse wanted me to tell you that they’re still going to need to run some tests, just to make sure. You really should cooperate.”

A fond smile appeared on Chat’s face. “Okay”, he agreed instantly, surprising Marinette. “If that’s what you want.”

Then he shut his eyes again, which was good because that way he couldn’t see the look that formed on her face. He didn’t see how her mouth opened slightly on its own or how her eyes grew bigger or how her cheeks flushed. Her stomach did another flip again, but it was different this time. She liked this feeling even less, this feeling that made her heart involuntarily skip a beat and the skin around her face turn pink.

She needed to get out. It was too much to see Chat smile so affectionately at her civilian self.

“A-anyway!” she blurted out all of a sudden rather awkwardly, slapping herself mentally. “I-I really don’t mean to sound rude but should I, um, go?”

Chat only opened one eye to look at her. “No?”

A frustrated sigh wanted desperately to escape her lips, but she forced herself to swallow it down. “But don’t you need more rest? And besides, I would hate to be here when Ladybug arrives and ruin your, uhhh, partner moment?”

Silence followed her words.

Tilting his head to one side, Chat looked at her funnily. An amused grin was almost creeping over his mouth. Marinette couldn’t stop her muscles from tensing, instincts telling her to leave.

She had to get out. Now. She _had to_.

“I _really_ need to go. Right now”, she squeaked, voice way too high-pitched to sound normal, to sound like she wasn’t panicking. “I have... things I need to do, yes, lots of important stuff waiting for me. Mhm.”

The superhero didn’t look too pleased with the idea. “Are you sure?”

“Oh, yes, very”, Marinette nodded her head vigorously, already turning towards the door. “You know me, I’m aaalways busy. I mean, not that you actually know what I do all day long, but I can guarantee you that whatever it is, I’m always in a hurry. Always. Like right now. So!”

Chat could sense that she was acting strange, she knew that. Still, he decided to ignore it, like he had witnessed her awkwardness many, many times before.

Marinette’s eager fingers touched the door handle, more than ready to get away from Chat’s tender smiles and warm voice. Somehow her brain registered that behind her, Chat was _chuckling_.

 _He can't know, he can't possibly know it's me, he can't_ –

“Okay, Buginette. See ya.”

Marinette froze so suddenly that it physically hurt.

She couldn’t breathe, her lungs just stopped working. It was like Chat had punched her in the gut with that nickname. As her blood ran cold, the only thing she could do was listen to the chaotic beat of her heart. Marinette tried to calm it by inhaling and exhaling slowly. It didn’t work.

Something was wrong. Something was horribly, horribly wrong.

Marinette was too scared to turn around and face him, but she had to say something. “What did you call me?” she managed eventually, her voice weak. Suddenly she felt so tired.

“Uh, 'Buginette’?”

So, she had not heard wrong.

Finally, channeling her inner Ladybug, Marinette had no choice but to turn around and face the problem head on. “What. Did you. Call me?” she asked again through gritted teeth.

The boy’s brows furrowed slightly with concern. “Buginette”, he repeated, “is everything alright?”

No, everything was not alright.

“ _Why would you call me that_?”

“Wha-what do you mean?“

How on earth could he be so calm? Before Marinette had time to scream, scream so loud she would surely have disturbed every patient in the building, Chat squinted at her. He pointed at her left hand, pouting a little.

“Hey, where’s your ring?”

Mouth hanging open, Marinette decided to save her screaming for later, too confused by the strange question. “What are you talking about? What ring?” she cried. “You’re the one who is wearing a ring!”

A deep frown took over his face, gloved fingers unconsciously gripping the sheets so tightly his knuckles must have turned white. Chat’s eyes suddenly started avoiding her horrified expression. Marinette could tell that he was slowly getting nervous, too.

“Your... engagement ring?” he clarified, clearing his throat. He almost sounded unsure. “The one that I bought for you?”

Before she was able to stop it, a strange, panicked laugh escaped Marinette’s malfunctioning lungs. Oh boy, could this get any better? And by better she meant _worse_.

“An engagement ring!” She threw her hands up in the air. “Are you joking? I only just turned 20! Why would I be engaged?”

Chat looked hurt, her words clearly stinging deep. He opened his mouth, probably to argue, but no sounds came out. His eyes snapped to his own ring finger. Chat stared and stared at his left hand, the light in his eyes quickly fading. It felt like the longest 30 seconds of Marinette’s life.

Then, something like recognition crossed Chat’s face. His breathing picked up. Something inside him was cracking, Marinette could feel it. Her own heart ached, too.

“Wh-where is it?” Chat mumbled to himself, alarmed, the small amount of hope he had had left slowly dying. His hands flew to the pockets of his suit, but he found nothing. “I always tell Plagg _not_ to keep the ring hidden, I... I never take it off, it should be here!”

With wide eyes he looked around the room, apparently trying to spot his 'ring’ somewhere, until meeting her eyes again. It felt like a staring contest. Green eyes bored into her soul, searching for something on her face.

Nervous seconds went by. Finally, Chat’s fake ears drooped, his big eyes widening even more. It seemed like he had not found whatever he had been looking for.

He nearly choked as he asked, “Do you really... not know who I am?”

A brutal realization. Just like that, Chat’s soft smiles and hums were replaced with this scared, miserable expression. Marinette’s heart screamed when she saw her partner like this. He was devastated, that much she could tell, and she wanted to comfort him, she really did, but...

The tension settled over them, thick and suffocating. Marinette couldn’t do it anymore, couldn’t stand to look at the hurt in his eyes. She turned to stare at the floor.

“Of course I don’t who you really are, that is how it’s supposed to be”, she mumbled. “How long have you known it was me anyway? How did you even find out?”

“How long have I...? Marinette, what are talking about? A-are you sure _I'm_ the one who lost their memory?” he asked, trying to mask his panic with a joke, his tongue clearly thicker than it was a moment ago. His eyes, unfocused and burning with unshed tears, moved to stare down at his own hands, which were shaking. It looked like he wasn’t able to control his own limbs.

A broken sob suddenly echoed through the room. It was the sound of a person whose whole world was crumbling right before their eyes.

In that instant Marinette knew that this was something bigger, something more serious than Chat just knowing her identity and joking around like the clown he sometimes was. He was serious about this. It wasn’t a joke when he said he thought they were engaged.

A cold shiver ran through her, but she wasn’t exactly sure why. All she knew was that Chat’s amnesia was so, so much worse than any of the doctors had thought. His brain had made up a bunch of false memories, _strong_ false memories. Or was this just the akuma’s doing?

Marinette grimaced in her mind. Yeah right. There was no way Sweet Tooth the Pastry Thief was capable of _this_. Besides, even if it was, everything should have gone back to normal after Ladybug defeated the villain.

Inhaling deeply, Marinette collected her disorganized thoughts, reminding herself that she was the hero of Paris and her favourite person had just suffered a bad head injury. This was still Chat, her goofy, insufferable but loyal partner in crime.

She crossed the room to him, hesitated only for a second and then took his hand in hers. His breathing was strangely shallow, but she knew now was not the time to alert the nurses. While waiting for Chat to calm down, she drew gentle circles with her thumb against his leather glove. It seemed to work, at least a little, because soon Chat’s breathing evened out.

“What is the last thing you remember?” she asked as softly as she could when he leaned back, trying his best to relax.

Chat didn’t say anything for a moment, just bit his bottom lip. Refusing to look at her, he shook his head slightly. “Don’t want to say.”

“Tell me, please? I want to help, but right now I’m just as lost as you are.”

Chat bit his lip harder, but gave up soon. Shoulders slumping, he sighed. Marinette barely heard him when he whispered, “The last thing I remember... is waking up this morning, next to you.”

Blinking, Marinette jerked back in surprise, but didn’t let go of his hand. Her mind was empty for a minute. Okay, that definitely wasn’t what she had expected to hear.

Her partner scoffed at her reaction, but the noise was not malicious, mostly just tired. “Told you I shouldn’t say it out loud.”

“So-so you mean you really don’t remember anything that happened during the fight today?” she asked next, trying to keep herself as cool as possible.

“No, I don’t.” He shook his head again. “What happened?”

“Well...” Marinette started but faltered, wondering where she should start. “Okay, so, today’s akuma was a –”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Chat cut her off immediately, eyes once again going wide. “Did you just say _akuma_?”

In response, she wrinkled her nose a little bit, annoyed that she had been interrupted. “Yes, obviously. Now, you and I were –”

“Bu-but we have not dealt with those in years!” Chat cried out, cutting her off again. “What is happening here? I feel like I’ve woken up to a completely different world!”

This time his words made her freeze. She was absolutely clueless how to handle or fix this situation. Just how many false new memories had the injury created?

“Wha–”

There was a knock on the door, the sound interrupting Marinette for the third time. Chat squeezed her fingers a bit tighter, pursing his lips together, eyes moving to look behind her. She did the same, her nervous eyes turning to look at the door as it opened.

The nurse she had talked to earlier walked in, clearly hesitant. The woman looked briefly at their intertwined hands before showing them a small smile. “Excuse me, miss, but we would like to speak with Chat Noir. It’s private, I’m afraid.”

“No, no, it’s fine”, Marinette replied and got up from the bed, already preparing herself for Alya’s questions. “Um, any word from Ladybug?”

The nurse shook her head, which Marinette already knew she would. But before she could even take a step towards the open door, Chat desperately tugged at the hem of her shirt. She looked down and only now realized that his other hand was still holding hers. Chat’s eyes, fearful and worried, begged her not to leave, begged her not to leave him alone in a world where he felt like he didn’t belong.

“I’m sorry”, she mouthed and watched how tiny tears gathered in his eyes. The look in his eyes made her feel like she was trying to crush his heart. “You should wait for Ladybug.”

She yanked herself free and left, not allowing herself to look back because if she had, she knew she would have stayed. They needed Ladybug more than they needed Marinette.

 

\- - - -

 

Chat was released from the hospital with a warning to take it easy. Somehow Marinette knew that nothing was going to be easy for them for a while.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I remember, years ago, reading a fic where person A wakes up in hospital, thinking that he's married to person B even though they aren't even dating. So this idea isn't completely original hehe buuuuut... Anyway, I would love to hear what you thought :)
> 
> Thank you for reading!! See you in the next chapter hopefully!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo... October 26th, huh?

“But what about –”

“No, none of it is real. You imagined it. All of it.”

“No, Ladybug, I am sure –”

“ _Chat_ , _stop_.” Ladybug knew her voice sounded strained. She fought the urge to rub her temples. “Didn’t the doctors tell you that this would not be a permanent thing? All we can do right now is wait for your memories to come back. _You_ need to go home, _I_ need to go home, let’s talk more tomorrow.”

“Bu-but where should I go?” he muttered, voice rising in intensity and volume. “Where do I even _live_?”

“How could I know!” she screamed back, scaring a few pigeons that were resting near them on the rooftop. “I don’t know who you are!”

Wincing at her last words, Chat shut his mouth. The hurt he was feeling seemed to radiate off him, poisoning the air around them. Ladybug hated that she was the cause of it.

A moment ago, Chat had insisted on telling her who he was, saying that it would only be fair since he clearly already knew who she was. He had told her that he was sure everything would be fine after that. Ladybug knew better. Tikki’s warnings always remained present at the back of her mind. Her answer had been a firm no.

She watched as her partner turned to look at his feet, tail lashing defensively behind him, a scowl on his face. Pent-up frustration was making both of their veins swell.

Head trauma was a really tricky business, as Ladybug had come to notice. The things Chat had told her about the life he thought he had been living were so detailed, so specific that it was almost hard to believe his brain had just made it all up. He was so sure that they were dating, living together, sharing an apartment near the Eiffel Tower. (Wow, Ladybug had thought. Chat must have been crazy rich in his fantasy life.)

He could vividly describe what their apartment looked like. He could even tell her what _toothpaste_ she was using, which was kind of creepy. Chat was apparently working at her parents’ bakery for the summer while she spent most of her time studying. They were planning to get married once they were done with their studies but had already decided to get engaged because, well, why not. (Or, actually, the words Chat had used were _“We_ _got_ _engaged_ _because_ _we love each other_ _with all our heart and will continue to love each other for the rest of our lives, too”_ , but Ladybug purposely tried to forget that part. Gosh, her partner was so sappy.)

According to Chat, they had also adopted a cat. The light of his life, as he had called the pet, his already bright green eyes literally sparkling. It hurt, but she had to tell him that the cat wasn’t real either, it didn’t really exist.

Nothing could have prepared her for the look he gave her. It made her feel like a murderer, like she had personally ripped the cat’s heart out of its chest and eaten it right before his eyes. Chat had instantly burst out into tears, clutching at his chest like he had lost a very big and important part of himself. Ladybug couldn’t help but feel sorry for him.

But the scariest part was just how much he knew about _her_. Real things, things that had happened to her, things that were important to her, things that made her _her_. He knew her little quirks and habits. He knew how she liked to talk to herself when she was stressed. He knew her morning routine, knew that she prefered coffee to tea and that pineapple didn’t belong to pizza. He could list all of her friends in alphabetical order, which, again, was quite creepy.

Chat knew everything.

An uneasy feeling began in Ladybug’s stomach. All of this nearly made her think that the person in front of her wasn’t really Chat Noir. Or at least not _her_ Chat Noir. More like... another version of him from some parallel universe.

Which was, of course, insane. Impossible. Alternate universes didn’t really exist, not if Papillon and his minions weren’t involved. And this time they weren’t, which meant that this was all the injury’s doing. In a way, it only made the situation more terrifying.

Feeling dizzy, Ladybug turned to leave. She really needed some time alone to think. “Go wherever you lived before we... ‘moved in together’ or whatever your brain is telling you. I’ll ask Tikki if she knows what the hell is going on. You should talk to your kwami, too”, she said, spinning her yoyo and trying to force a small smile on her face. “Let’s meet on top of the Eiffel Tower tomorrow at 9pm.”

Chat’s fake ears were flat against his head and if possible, he looked even more miserable than he did when she had told him the truth about his imaginary cat. “Don’t make me go back to that house. Please, Ladybug, I don’t think I can...”

He sounded so broken that she almost wanted to ask him to come with her. But she couldn’t risk it and didn’t want her parents wondering why she brought a superhero home with her. Besides, Tikki would be _furious_.

And so Chat was left alone standing on the rooftop, not knowing where to go as he watched his real home move further and further away from him. Guilt trickled through Ladybug but she assured herself that this was the right choice.

 

\- - - -

 

When Tikki finally stopped panicking, Marinette immediately changed into her pajamas and crawled into bed. The kwami settled on the pillow next to hers, a stubborn pout on her tiny face. Wrapping the blanket tightly around herself, Marinette exhaled a long breath, trying to get comfortable.

The room fell quiet. The girl was left alone to stew in her own thoughts as her kwami, surprisingly, fell fast asleep in seconds. She squeezed her eyes shut so tightly it almost hurt, feeling more confused than ever before. She couldn’t keep her eyes closed for long, though, because Chat’s heartbroken expression was all she saw in the darkness. She could still hear his distressed voice, begging her not to leave.

Tikki had told her that she didn’t know what was happening or why this was happening. The moment her chosen had detransformed, the kwami had freaked out. Which, to be honest, had not surprised Marinette at all.

(“He _knows_ who you are? This is bad, Marinette, really bad! What if Papillon manages to control him again and he reveals your identity accidentally? Do you understand how serious this is? This might put you two in even more danger!”)

It had taken about 20 minutes for Tikki to fully calm down. According to her, this was a disaster, an absolute catastrophe. The kwami always reminded her how important it was that their identities stayed a secret, and Marinette, too, agreed that it was better that way, for now. But now Chat knew who she was and she couldn’t hide behind Ladybug’s mask anymore.

Marinette lifted her left hand and stared at her empty ring finger. Seconds and minutes went by. Falling asleep wasn’t even an option at the moment. The chaos inside her head was too loud.

She couldn’t help but wonder whether Chat had already known that Ladybug and Marinette were one and the same even before all of this happened. Maybe the injury had made him dizzy enough to think that he had already told her that he had figured it out. If that was the case, then she was disappointed, disappointed that he had not come clean. Who knew how long he had kept this a secret? She thought Chat would have been more honest.

Marinette frowned inwardly. That didn’t sound like Chat, though. He would have trusted her with that secret and respected her enough to tell her.

Okay, yeah, maybe Tikki was right. This was a mess. A mess Marinette desperately wanted to fix as soon as possible. But first she needed rest and sleep.

She closed her eyes again, trying to relax, telling herself to stay positive. Her room was quiet, her bed wonderfully warm and the sound of Tikki’s breathing comforting. Marinette smiled, knowing that everything would be fine.

Just when sleep was about to take her, she heard shuffling sounds coming from her balcony that caught her attention. Something shattered. There was a gasp followed by a whispered curse.

Narrowing her eyes slightly, Marinette jumped to her feet, careful not to wake Tikki. She had a pretty good idea what she was going to see once she opened the trapdoor.

Turned out she was right. Chat looked like a deer in the headlights; wide eyed and at a loss for words because he had been caught. Marinette’s favourite red rose was on the floor, the flowerpot in pieces.

For a moment she just stared at him, arms crossed, her expression wary. Seeing her superhero partner on her balcony was a cruel reminder that today truly _had_ happened, a reminder that Chat really did know she was Ladybug. Not that she could forget something like that but still it made her stomach tense.

Cheeks reddening, Chat crouched down and picked up the ruined flower. “Oh, hello, Bugi– _uhhh_ , Marinette.” He offered her the rose. “Beautiful night, isn’t it?”

She only gave him a flat look, waving her hand and refusing the flower. “Chat, what the hell are you doing here? It’s like 1am, you know”, she hissed. Thank god her parents were asleep.

Chat’s fake ears slowly flattened against his head. The awkward smile disappeared and instead the corners of his lips curved downwards. Somehow the moonlight made him look incredibly small.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you up”, he apologized, sadness in his eyes.

Marinette really had not expected him to sound so miserable. She wondered if something bad happened after they parted because there were tears welling up in his eyes. Seeing that look was enough to make her sick with worry.

She reached out to rest her hand on the boy’s shoulder and Chat’s entire back seemed to sag with the weight of it. She had never seen him look so tired.

Marinette swallowed thickly before asking, “Are you alright?”

He didn’t meet her eyes, just stared at his feet. “Can I sleep here tonight? I can’t go home, Marinette, I can’t. I don’t _want_ to.”

“Chat, what happened?” she questioned, serious, her eyebrows low.

Tears finally began to flow from his eyes. He hid his face in his gloved hands, loud sobs wracking his body. Alarmed, Marinette wrapped her arms around him. The boy didn’t hesitate to bury his face in the crook of her neck as she patted his back.

“Shh, shh...”

“I forgot how awful it can be there”, Chat whispered against her skin. “I feel invisible but controlled at the same time. I feel unloved and I’m anxious about my every move. I’m not used to that anymore. My father –”

Then he stopped abruptly, like he had said too much. More tears touched her neck and his grip on her pajama shirt tightened.

Before the accident, Marinette couldn’t remember Chat ever complaining about his civilian life or his family. He was always so cheerful, always wearing a bright smile, making her both laugh and groan at his jokes... To put it simply, Marinette was confused and the agony on his face was horrible to look at. She wanted her old partner back.

“I was finally living my life for myself, but now it’s like nothing’s changed. I feel like I’m back at square one. Everything’s useless...”

At that, Marinette pulled back and cupped his face with her hands before he could look away. She studied him with a small pout on her lips, staring into those green eyes that were telling her he wanted nothing more than to just wake up from this nightmare. But this wasn’t a dream. They needed to change the subject, talk about something other than his family before he could say too much.

“What about... your memories?” Marinette asked carefully. She wanted to slap herself the moment the question left her mouth.

Chat turned away immediately. Wiping the tears from his cheeks, he shook his head and leaned against the balcony railing. “Still 'fake’ if that’s what you mean.”

“What did your kwami say?”

“Plagg doesn’t remember much either. But he doesn’t believe that my memories are real. We... fought. It was pretty weird, arguing with a tiny floating cat.”

A sigh escaped Marinette’s lips. Leaning against the balcony railing, too, she gazed into the night. No stars tonight, but the city lights looked pretty as always. She wished she could say the same about the dark circles under Chat’s eyes.

“Please, just let me stay here tonight”, Chat begged again, voice nothing but a broken whisper. “I promise I won’t disturb your beauty sleep.”

Marinette thought about his request for a minute. Slowly, her nose wrinkled. “You mean, you want to sleep on my balcony?”

Chat nodded, eyes sad and pleading.

She blinked at him a few times, surprised. Then she shook her head. “No way.”

The boy’s face fell. “But –”

“No way”, she said again but firmer this time. “I know that it’s summer, but you might still catch a cold if you stay outside. Come on, you can sleep on my divan.”

When he didn’t object, Marinette turned to leave. Her partner eagerly followed her inside, his ears perked up again. He was homesick for a place that most likely didn’t even exist, and she wanted to show him that even if he felt like he was all alone, he wasn’t.

Grabbing an armful of pillows and blankets, Marinette pointed to the chair. Chat helped her carry more pillows from her closet and even a few stuffed toys.

“Princess, I think this is more than enough”, Chat commented, scratching his head as he eyed the crazy amount of fluffy blankets.

She let the pet name slide. “Don’t be silly, there can never be too many pink pillows. Now, if you need to use the bathroom, it’s –”

“Downstairs”, he finished for her with a weak smile. “I know.”

Marinette bit her lip and turned her gaze. “Right.”

Chat said nothing after that, just looked a bit uncomfortable, so she decided to just go back to bed. She tiptoed up the stairs, trying to pretend that her heart wasn’t pounding as fast as it was.

This was weird. Everything was weird. Chat was going to stay the night while he was transformed and she wasn’t, and it was _weird_ , but at the same time she thought ' _so what_ ’. Her partner was still recovering and she wanted to help. And since everything was weird at the moment, there was no point dwelling on things.

“Night, Chat”, she called as she collapsed on her own bed. What a relief that Tikki was a heavy sleeper.

Clearly exhausted, Chat mumbled something, his voice already sleepy. Marinette thought that he might have replied with “Night, love”, but she told herself that she had heard wrong.

 

When she woke up in the morning, he was gone.

 

\- - - -

 

After taking a long and much-needed shower, Marinette dressed, stuffed Tikki into her purse and gave her mum and dad a quick kiss. Then she rushed out the door. She was already late.

She headed for the park where she was supposed to meet Alya, Nino and Adrien. It had been a few weeks since they’d all had time to hang out together, and Marinette had been eagerly waiting for this day. Everything that had happened with Chat yesterday made her restless, but she supposed it was just how the superhero life worked. She needed to stay alert, always.

Although, she had to admit that things didn’t look so bad when the sun was smiling lovingly upon her and she had slept surprisingly well.

When she reached her destination, Nino and Alya were already waiting for her, arguing loudly about something. She waved at them, and the scowls on her friends’ faces changed immediately. Chuckling, Marinette sat down on the blanket next to her best friend.

Alya offered her a sandwich that she had made herself. Marinette accepted it with a wide smile on her face and opened the box of macarons her father had given her. To drink, Nino had brought them lemon flavoured water with ice cubes. Refreshing.

“Hmm, no champagne this time, huh?” she teased.

“This _is_ a special day, but since it’s only Thursday...” Nino shook his head. “No.”

Lying on her back, completely relaxed and somehow giddy, Marinette listened as her friends chatted happily. She closed her eyes, letting the warmth of the summer sun soak into her body. Just for a moment she let herself forget about Chat, forget about the mess that she would eventually have to clean up. Right now the sun was here and her friends were here and she would think about Chat later.

As usual, Alya had been right. It was a beautiful day for a picnic.

“I wonder what is taking Adrien so long”, mumbled Nino, flopping onto his back, too. His cap covered half of his face, but he sounded a bit worried. “I know it’s not unusual for him to be late, but even _Marinette_ showed up before him. That’s strange.”

“Hey!” Marinette nudged him lightly, but they both laughed.

“I’m sure it’s nothing”, Alya said, shrugging. “Maybe he has an unexpected photoshoot today and his father won’t let him skip it. Happens all the time.”

“True, but usually he’d at least text me to let me know he isn’t coming. It’s been two days since I last heard from him.”

“Maybe he’s sick?”

“He still would have told me.”

“Maybe his phone is not working?”

The boy raised his hat just enough to give Alya that dry look which told her he didn’t believe it. Besides, it was universal knowledge that Adrien had three extra phones just because he was filthy rich.

They all agreed to wait ten more minutes. After that Nino would call him.

It was quiet for a moment. Well, not exactly quiet _quiet_ ; a bunch of children were running around chasing each other and laughing with joy, a group of tourists chatted loudly (in Swedish, maybe?) on a bench a few meters away from them, and the sound of traffic was always loud in Paris. But Marinette and her two friends didn’t say a word. In a way, it was quite strange. Alya was usually never this –

“Sooo, Marinette. Tell me more about this mysterious superhero you met yesterday.”

Ah, there we go.

Marinette grimaced inwardly before turning to her friend. Alya was wiggling her eyebrows. That was never a good sign.

“Do we really have to talk about it?” she asked, whining like a little kid.

“Yes, we do. You didn’t answer my texts last night which means you’re hiding something.”

A slight blush suddenly worked its way up her neck. Marinette shook her head furiously, pigtails hitting her cheeks.

Nino sat up to study her expression with a small frown. Then she turned to Alya, eyes wide. “She really _is_ hiding something, isn’t she?”

The burning on her cheeks got worse. “I’m not!”

“You are. Don’t even try to deny it.” The blogger took her phone out of her pocket. “So, tell me, my dear Marinette, what exactly happened yesterday?”

Pouting, Marinette turned to look away, sipping her drink like she had not even heard the question. She hated that she had to keep lying and it made her feel a little less guilty when she just kept her mouth shut.

Her best friend only leaned closer, phone ready. “Ok, first things first: do you know who Chat Noir is?”

Marinette said nothing.

“He didn’t tell you who he is while you visited him?”

This time she shook her head.

“Have you two talked in private like that before? Have you ever talked to Ladybug? Do you know who _Ladybug_ is?”

“No!”

Nino opened his mouth, frown back on his face. “What did you two even talk about?”

Marinette hesitated. “His health.”

“And how was he?”

“A bit... light-headed? He did suffer some damage to the head after all.”

“That really all?” Alya didn’t sound convinced. Marinette opened her mouth, but her friend held up a hand to stop her. “You’re lying.”

“It’s confidental”, Marinette replied, stubborn as she crossed her arms across her chest. It wasn’t a lie. “Anyway, it’s been about ten minutes. Adrien’s still not here.“

She said it to change the topic, but the comment actually made her friends tense. Truth be told, Marinette was a bit worried, too. Maybe Adrien had just forgotten? That was strange, though. Adrien loved their picnics.

“Yeah, you’re right”, Nino said then, chewing on his lower lip. “I’ll call him.”

Adrien picked up after a few rings. Alya and Marinette both grabbed a handful of cookies as they listened to the call.

“Dude, where are you? _Huh_? But we were supposed to meet at the park today, remember? Yes, Adrien, at the park. Is... is everything alright? You sound kinda...” Nino glanced at the girls for a second, his brows furrowed slightly before he turned to look away, sighing. “Okay then, nevermind. Yes, today. We’ve already been here for like half an hour. No, no, it’s all good! Yeah, of course! See you soon, bye.”

The girls raised their eyebrows at him when he ended the call. Nino merely shrugged.

They had to wait another 15 minutes until Adrien finally showed up. His usually perfectly styled hair was a mess, there were dark circles under his eyes and his clothes were creased as if he had slept in them. Another detail that caught Marinette’s eye was that his shoelaces were not tied together. It was obvious that he had left in a hurry. Adrien Agreste looked like he had just woken up and that alone was suspicious.

“Sorry that I’m late. I... I forgot completely”, he apologized as he sat down next to Marinette, actually bowing his head a few times. “But it’s good to see you guys.”

A bright grin was quickly spreading across Marinette’s face. She would be lying if she said she didn’t feel a little smug that Adrien had chosen to sit beside her and not Nino. She was never going to fully get rid of this crush, was she?

“Are you okay though?” Alya asked, leaning closer to look at Adrien’s unusual eyebags. “No offence but you look... really, really tired. Did something happen?”

Adrien seemed to hesitate for an instant, debating within himself whether to speak or not, and his eyes momentarily moved to look at Marinette. In that short moment, Marinette was sure that she saw something flicker in his eyes – something nervous. It made her feel troubled, like something wasn’t quite right.

But then Adrien turned back to Alya and the nervous look was gone. She was left wondering if she had just imagined it all.

“I just didn’t sleep very well last night, that’s all”, Adrien explained finally, a quiet sigh leaving his lips. “I’m fine.”

“Alya thought you had a surprise photoshoot and that’s why you weren’t showing up”, Nino told him, gulping down most of the macarons, but offering Adrien the last one.

Looking amused, Adrien raised an eyebrow at Nino as he accepted the macaron. A short burst of laughter left his pretty lips. Marinette couldn’t help her dreamy sigh. She would have gladly spent the whole day listening to that laugh.

“A photoshoot?” Adrien laughed again and waved his hand, dismissive. “Thank goodness I don’t really have to...”

As he trailed off, none of his friends expected _shock_ to take over his expression and whole body. Almost frantically, Adrien pulled his phone from his jeans, checking the calendar. Eyes going wide, his breathing suddenly quickened. It looked like his hands were trembling.

They all sat in tense silence, watching how colour drained from Adrien’s already pale face. Finally, the boy’s shoulders slumped, like he had just given up on everything.

Nino was the first one to open his mouth, concern written all over his face. “Bro, what is it? Are you okay?”

“I...” Adrien stared at his phone, mouth open. “I have a _photoshoot_ next Monday...”

“And?”

Adrien turned to Marinette, eyes almost _pleading_ , like he expected her to explain how this was possible. All she could do was stutter something incoherent while her face was in flames. Adrien turned away, looking like he was somehow... disappointed.

Nino, like the good friend he was, quickly proceeded to pat Adrien’s back, trying to comfort him. “Hey, don’t worry about that right now. Here.” He offered his friend a glass of water. “Drink this and you’ll feel better. Less tired, too.”

Nino’s voice was soothing and anyone could see that this wasn’t the first time he had comforted Adrien. The other boy managed a smile as he took the glass, muttering a quiet 'thank you’. Nino smiled back widely and patted his back again, so hard that Adrien almost dropped his drink. In order to save Adrien’s clothes from getting wet, Nino moved his hand to ruffle the boy’s hair instead. They all laughed when Adrien scowled.

“Bro, your hair truly is a mess today”, Nino said, grinning.

Adrien immediately pushed his hands up into his hair, fingers curling into the fluffy locks as he tried to fix his messy hair in frustration. But he was smiling again, distracted enough to forget about next week’s shoot, all the tiredness slowly leaving his body.

His hair looked almost as messy as Chat Noir’s always did, Marinette’s mind noted, unhelpful. It nearly made her groan. She wasn’t supposed to think about Chat right now, that was the whole point of this picnic. Be that as it may, she really did hope that he was okay, wherever he was.

Soon, as her friends continued their normal chitchat, Marinette caught herself wondering if homesickness still haunted Chat, if he had gone back home after waking up, if he still felt lonely. They really needed to talk about the 'we have not dealt with an akuma attack in years' -thing. Since he had somehow figured out her identity, maybe he magically knew who Papillon was, too. Mostly she just wanted him to be fine, wanted him to get his memories back and things to go back to the way they used to be.

And even if she didn’t want to admit it, her thoughts also wandered back to Chat’s sleepy voice and the way he had called her _love..._ She really didn’t want to think about that!

Deep in thought, she didn’t even didn’t notice how Adrien had leaned closer, chuckling with carefree eyes as he and Nino laughed at something funny Alya had said. Only when an arm casually wrapped itself around her shoulders, warmth spreading through her, her whole body jumped.

A small, high-pitched squeak escaped her lungs. The sound made Adrien blink down at her a few time before he realized what he had done. Marinette could feel her face heat up.

As if she had all of a sudden burned him, the boy quickly pulled away from her. Dumbfounded at the sight, Nino and Alya went quiet, staring at the two of them. Adrien’s cheeks bloomed a pretty pink color, too.

“So-sorry!” he squeaked back, squeezing his eyes shut and hitting his forehead with the palm of his hand. Embarrassment was shining on his face. “Just a habit that I’ve formed!”

“You’ve never done that before, dude”, Nino pointed out, adjusting his glasses.

Adrien’s cheeks turned from pink to red, and he looked strangely terrified at being called out. “Y-yes, I have!”

He had not. Marinette would have remembered if her longtime crush had wrapped his arms around her so casually before.

“I-it’s okay...” she assured him once she finally got her mouth to work again. Tingling with warmth, she could still feel his touch on her shoulders. She refused to meet Alya’s wickedly glinting eyes. “I don’t mind... We’re friends, right?”

Before Adrien could explain his odd behaviour, Alya started whining about how she had not seen Ladybug in over 24 hours and because of that, she was starting to get bored. Then it was Nino’s turn to complain about Alya and how she had decided to bug him for hours last night because Marinette had not texted her back. The mood lightened, and both Marinette and Adrien were able to relax again.

She could still feel Adrien’s eyes on her from time to time. Normally, she would have been thrilled. Adrien’s attention was what she wanted. But she just couldn’t shake the feeling that not everything was right.

When it was time to go home, Marinette didn’t protest. She still had a meeting with Chat later and she really wanted to eat something first. They said their goodbyes. Nino gave Adrien a rib crushing hug and whispered something in his ear. Adrien nodded at him, a soft smile on his lips. Marinette had to bite her lip in order to contain her curiosity.

To their surprise, the blond started to head towards the Eiffel Tower.

“Uhh... Adrien?” Nino stopped him before he could get very far.

The boy turned around, blinking, mouth forming a small, confused 'o'. “Huh?”

“Um, where are you going? Didn’t you say you had to go home and take a shower?”

Brows furrowed, Adrien stared at Nino for a moment. Then his eyes widened just a bit as something seemed to click in his head.

“Oh! Oh, right.” He laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck and showing them a goofy smile. “I guess I really am a bit tired today.”

Alya and Nino only nodded, laughing, but Marinette could see through them. She knew she wasn’t the only one who was worried about Adrien. With a frown, she hoped that whatever was bothering him would just go away soon.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Sorry for any mistakes, I'll fix them later ^^'
> 
> Please, let me know what you thought :) I'll love you forever


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (it's almost 4am here so I'm so sorry for any mistakes!)

“Evening, my lady.”

“Sorry I’m late!”

It was always a bit chilly on top of the Eiffel Tower, even in summer. Despite that, Ladybug couldn’t remember the last time she had felt this cold while transformed.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, just had a rough day. Kind of. Today has definitely been better than yesterday, and I didn’t have to spend the whole day rotting inside.”

“You don’t look too great.”

“I don’t... want to complain.”

“You have amnesia, Chat, you are allowed to complain a little.”

“Maybe.”

Her partner looked like he had just survived a thousand apocalypses and starved for months. Ladybug hated everything. She had the urge to pinch herself to see if she was only dreaming. Unfortunately, this was all real.

Why Chat? Why _them_?

“Um, how was your day? You went on a picnic with your friends, right?”

“Yeah, it was nice, it’s been a while since we – Wait, how did you know that?”

“Know what?”

“I didn’t tell you I was going on a picnic with my friends.”

“Yo-you didn’t?”

“Nuh uh.”

“I-I just, uh, happen to know everything? Si-since I’m your fiancé?”

“Chat.”

“Since I’m your best friend?”

“ _Chat_. Did you follow me?”

“What? No! Maybe? Sorta?”

“God, that’s so creepy!”

“Says the girl who hacks into other people’s phones.”

“ _How did you_ –”

“Nevermind. The point is that... Is that I just get so lonely when I’m not with you, Ladybug! You’re my source of happiness! My motivation! The reason my heart keeps –”

“Okay, that’s enough. Listen, I would love to take you with me everywhere, but then my friends would figure out I’m Ladybug. Or even worse: Papillon might figure it out, too.”

“‘Everywhere’? Aww, you’d like to be with me 24 hours a day?”

“You’re turning this into a joke.”

“Is that a bad thing? You’re smiling, Buginette.”

There were so many things she had meant to talk to him about. There were so many questions that needed answers, too many mysteries that needed to be solved. But she couldn’t bring herself to ask those question, couldn’t do that to him, not now. They both deserved a break, Chat especially.

Lighthearted banter. Easy smiles. The darker skin under Chat’s eyes fading for a moment whenever he laughed at his own puns. Everything felt so normal that it almost made her falsely think nothing was out of the ordinary. It almost made her feel like she could forget her worries.

Almost.

“So, do you have any plans for tonight?”

“Why do you wanna know? Would you like to take me out on a date?”

Keep it light, Ladybug told herself and exhaled slowly. She couldn’t understand why Chat’s smiles, even the genuine ones, now made her heart ache.

“No dates, just thought that maybe, since you apparently have nothing better to do, you should go see one of the doctors again tomorrow.”

Chat’s memories had not come back and the new ones had not disappeared. Amnesia was something no one should take lightly, and Ladybug was so hopeless and confused that she found herself desperately wishing for a miracle to happen. She wished that everything could just be fixed with their Miraculous powers or magic or something.

Because what an earth was she supposed to do? They were the only ones who could unravel this mess yet they were both lost.

Chat’s mind was damaged. There was nothing Ladybug could do about it. Internally, she was constantly struggling with anger.

“Okay, I’ll... consider it.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

Another smile that made Ladybug’s chest hollow.

As Marinette, she could afford to make a few mistakes. She could be her normal clumsy self without the constant fear of disappointing every single person in Paris. As _Ladybug_ , she was supposed to have things always under control. As _Ladybug_ , it was her duty to fix things and help others.

To Chat she was now both, Marinette _and_ Ladybug at the same time, and honestly? It was tiring. She definitely didn’t feel very heroic at the moment, asking Chat questions that seemed to make him a bit uncomfortable.

“Chat, um, I need to know something... How did you figure out it’s me?”

“I know you don’t believe me, but you were to one who told me. To be honest, I’m actually surprised I didn’t realize it sooner. No offence, but Marinette and Ladybug look exactly the same, pigtails and all.”

Puzzled, Ladybug tilted her head to the side. So... did that mean the real reason he found out was because her transformation didn’t change her appearance enough? That sounded a bit... alarming, actually.

The question ' _Do you also know who Papillon is_ ’, got stuck in her throat. The words were trying to get out, clawing at her tongue almost painfully, wanting to escape her mouth.

Besides Chat’s health, defeating Papillon was the most important thing. Chat had told her that there were no evil butterflies in his dream world anymore and since he had figured out her identity, Ladybug had thought that maybe... _Maybe_.

On the other hand, talking too much about his fake life could be a really bad idea. She didn’t want to take the risk that she would hurt him somehow or make the situation even worse.

“Do you know who Papillon is?”

The words were out of her mouth before her brain even had time to register what she was about to say. Gasping, Ladybug slapped her hands over her lips.

_She was **not** supposed to ask that!_

Chat’s eyes went wide at the question, his whole body stiffening, like he had not thought she would ever ask that. Ladybug winced at his panicked expression. There was something painful behind Chat’s eyes, something so sorrowful that she hoped she would never have to experience.

A beat passed between them.

It was too quiet, and Ladybug knew very well that she had messed up. She had caused Chat more unnecessary pain, again.

The boy dropped his gaze at the same time as his cat ears flattened against his fluffy hair. “Ladybug, I... I can’t...”

Chat was building a wall between them, she could feel it. It was a wall that, normally, she would have wanted to exist. But right now... it only made her sad. Chat was always so honest and open with her. How could she ask him to tell her these things when she herself wasn’t even ready to know his identity?

“I’m not sure I –”

“It’s okay!” Ladybug cut him off and placed both of her hands on his shoulder. Chat didn’t look up. “I’m sorry I asked. We can talk about that later.”

Her partner nodded, albeit a little hesitantly.

“We’ll talk about it _when you're ready_ ”, she corrected herself.

That worked. Ladybug felt how the tension in Chat’s shoulders left, at least a little bit. The boy nodded again, firmer this time. She returned the nod, dropping her hands and taking a step back.

Taking a deep breath, Chat turned to look at the sky with those unique eyes of his, watching the summer clouds roll by. A surprisingly peaceful smile started to play on his lips.

It was a calming sight. Still, a sharp pang of sadness hit Ladybug.

What now?

“So, what should we do?” Chat asked then, like he had read her mind.

“What else can we do but wait?”

A soft sigh filled the air. Without taking his eyes off the cotton candy clouds, Chat rubbed the back of his neck. Slowly, clearly unsure.

“I don’t know, Ladybug... Nothing’s changed. I don’t remember Sweet Tooth – although I so wish I had met him because, _hilarious_ – and I still think I somehow got transffered to a parallel universe.”

“Or maybe you’re just going crazy.”

At last, Chat turned to look at her, hurt evident on his face. The look made something twist in Ladybug’s stomach. She swallowed.

She had meant that as a joke.

“Sorry”, the heroine said, bowing her head a little, shoulders slumping. Everything seemed to go wrong. “I didn’t mean it like that, not literally.”

“Nah, don’t worry about it. I know.”

Oh how she wished she could stop worrying.

The sun was starting to paint the scenery with bright orange and red, soon leaving the heroes in pre-moon darkness. Finally, the clouds disappeared as the moon peeked behind them, and the world around them got darker. It was getting late.

Ladybug studied her partner’s relaxed expression. She bit her lip. “Hey, Chat?”

“Mm?”

“You do know that you can always come and stay the night at my house, right?”

Because from what she had heard, he didn’t really have a home to go to.

Immediately, his eyes brightened. His ears perked up, fake tail swishing behind him, excited. Their gazes locked. Chat nodded, his smile actually reaching his eyes this time. A wave of relief went through Ladybug at the sight. She returned the smile.

“Oh!” she exclaimed, remembering what Tikki had told her. “Almost forgot! My kwami is worried that, now that you know who I am, you’ll end up revealing my identity to Papillon if he manages to control you again.”

Amusement flashed in Chat’s glowing eyes. “Yeah, Tikki is always worried about these kind of things, isn’t she?”

“Oh, you have no idea.”

Or... what if he did?

“Hmm, I don’t think that’s going to be a problem.” Chat shook his head. “I mean, after all those times he has used me as his minion he’s never even asked to know who _I_ was. It would be pretty easy, don’t you think? Papillon has had more than enough opportunities to find out my identity.”

“Oh, that is true”, she agreed, tapping her chin thoughtfully. “Besides, he always tries to use you to get my earrings, but I think it would be better for him if he just took your ring first. That way, even if he didn’t catch me, he would still have your Miraculous. One is better than none, right?”

Chat laughed, his eyes twinkling in a way that made it almost impossible for Ladybug to look away. Grinning, she gladly accepted this familiar, carefree Chat, hoping to see more of that in the future.

“We would make better villains than him, wouldn’t we?”

In the end, they came to the conclusion that Papillon must be a fucking moron.

(Chat wasn’t going anywhere. They had all the time in the world to sort things out.)

 

\- - - -

 

Marinette was getting ready for bed when her partner knocked on her window. Wearing an excited grin, the cat basically pressed his face flat against the glass, crushing his nose and leaving a wet mark with his lips. The grin had turned his bright eyes into happy crescents.

Marinette couldn’t help her giggle, but the gasp that left her kwami’s mouth when she saw Chat Noir was so overly exaggerated and dramatic that her giggling soon changed into eye-rolling. The kwami looked like the embodiment of that one emoji that has its hands on its cheeks as it screams in horror slash fear.

Finally, when she got over the initial shock, Tikki turned to look at her human friend with an angry pout. Marinette didn’t let it faze her.

“I told him that he could come here anytime”, she explained and shrugged. She could see how, behind the window, Chat jumped up, away from the view and onto her balcony.

Tikki’s already big eyes got even bigger. “You _what_?”

Marinette moved closer to the skylight in order to let Chat in. She couldn’t stop her quiet chuckle.

She thought about telling her that Chat had already spent one night here before. In the end, though, she decided that it was better not to say anything, it could upset Tikki too much and that's not what she wanted. Besides, Marinette was glued to her kwami 24 hours a day, it was nice to have some secrets.

“Marinette”, Tikki’s voice was suddenly pleading as she followed her. “Do you not understand how serious this is? I’m only trying to keep you safe...”

Stopping for a moment and turning around, Marinette smiled at her kwami as softly as she could. “I know that and I understand why you’re worried. I’m worried, too, but I promise it’s going to be alright. I _swear_.”

Tikki squinted her eyes. She didn’t look too convinced.

Marinette sighed. “Fine, I’ll get you extra cookies tomorrow if you promise to leave Chat alone while he’s here.”

That seemed to do the trick. Immediately, Tikki’s expression got ten times brighter. She even did a little flip in the air before clapping her hands.

“Deal!” the kwami chirped, excited.

Marinette couldn’t help but shake her head, fondly. She knew that Tikki only wanted what was best for her and she was always grateful for that.

Marinette opened the trapdoor and Chat jumped inside. He greeted her with a bow and a smile.

“Heeello! How a–”

Marinette rushed to cover Chat’s mouth with her hand, afraid that he was going to wake up her parents. There was confusion in his eyes so she gestured towards the trapdoor on the floor with her head. She let go when he nodded.

Sighing, Marinette sat down on her divan. Chat followed her and did the same. It was quiet, peaceful.

“Hello, Chat Noir”, suddenly came a high-pitched voice. “Nice to finally meet you.”

Immediately, Marinette groaned because _what the hell was Tikki doing_? She prayed that her kwami wouldn’t mess this up.

“Oh, hi, Tikki.” Chat didn’t look one bit baffled by Tikki’s appearance. It was like he had already seen her a thousand times. “How are you?”

“Good, my Ladybug is getting me extra cookies tomorrow.”

Chat chuckled softly. “That’s very kind of her.”

Narrowing her eyes, Tikki turned to look at her chosen for a moment. Marinette shook her head furiously, waving her hands to make an X in front of her chest.

Their guest followed the silent conversation with curiosity, one eyebrow raised. “Is everything okay?”

Tikki turned back to him. “Listen, I like you, Chat Noir –”

“Thank you.”

“– but you are not supposed to know Ladybug’s name until you two have defeated Papillon –”

“Tikki”, Marinette interrupted, groaning again. “You _promised_ –”

“– and if anything happens to her because of this –”

“– I will never forgive myself”, Chat finished for her.

“Exactly what he said – wait _what_?” Marinette turned to stare at her partner, taken aback by the words, mouth wide open in shock. For a moment, she could only gape at his serious expression, frozen.

It was clear that Chat cared a lot about her. He seemed to always be ready to comfort her, make her laugh and even sacrifice himself for her. But the way he had just declared that, it made her feel uneasy but loved at the same time. It was a strange combination, to say the least, but she knew for sure that she did not like the idea of Chat never forgiving himself.

If the look on Tikki’s face was anything to go by, she was also surprised by Chat’s words. Eventually though, the kwami nodded her approval.

“Alright”, she said, brightening up a little. “Have a good night.” Then she yawned and floated to her tiny bed that Marinette had built specially for her.

A few seconds went by in silence as both Marinette and Chat Noir stared at the spot where the kwami had just been. All Marinette could do was blink her eyes in confusion.

Beside her, Chat chuckled quietly but loud enough to break the silence. “She’s not usually this hard on me. I actually think we get along pretty well. Not as well as you and Plagg, though.”

Marinette turned to look down at her legs, her mouth turning into a thin line. She wrapped her arms around herself, not really knowing what to say to him.

Noticing that the temperature seemed to plummet around them, Chat coughed awkwardly. “Um, what I mean is that I’m sure she’ll warm up to me soon. Anyway, what do you wanna do?”

Sighing, Marinette looked up again. There was sadness in his eyes that had not been there a few minutes ago. Homesickness had engulfed Chat again.

Biting her lip, Marinette wondered how it felt to be told that everything you thought was real was actually a lie. She wondered how it felt to feel so out of place that you thought you were in a parallel universe. It had to be awful.

“To be honestly, I’m just really exhausted. I need rest”, she admitted. “And so do you, by the way.”

“I’m fine –”

“You’re not. Go to sleep.”

To her surprise, Chat didn’t argue. He nodded with a small smile on his lips, but she didn’t miss the way his fake ears drooped slightly.

She had already gathered a bunch of pillows and blankets on the divan beforehand. She had even thrown in the handmade Ladybug and Chat Noir dolls in hopes that seeing them would make Chat feel a little better, a little less lonely.

Marinette went to turn off the lights, leaving the room to bask in moonlight. The dull light hit the boy’s face, and Marinette watched as he struggled to fit on the divan without dropping any of the blankets. There was a deep frown on his face, and she couldn’t help grinning at his distressed expression. They fought supervillains almost daily, but a mountain of blankets ended up being Chat Noir’s downfall.

Still giggling, she freed her hair from the pigtails and headed to bed. But before she could get there, something made her pause. For a moment, she just stared at the ladder in front of her.

The wall Chat was unconsciously building between them invaded her thoughts. Marinette couldn’t help but wonder if her actions were helping him create it. Frustrated, she blew out her cheeks with a hard breath.

An idea formed in her head, but even the thought of it made her heart beat a little faster. Anxious, she fidgeted with her hands for a few seconds. Or maybe it was closer to 30 seconds. Or a minute...

Finally, when she thought she was ready, she took another deep, deep breath, turned around and marched up to her already sleepy partner. Chat looked up from his castle of pillows and blankets. She held out her hand.

“You can sleep with me in my bed tonight if you want to”, she offered, a bit embarrassed.

Chat said nothing. All he did was stare at her hand, blinking his eyes every two seconds. He stared and stared, processing her offer, making Marinette feel almost stupid just standing there.

Slowly, finally, after what felt like a short eternity, the biggest smile she had seen on his face today spread across his lips. The kind of smile that could easy light up the whole room. The kind of smile that after seeing it, you knew that everything was going to work out just fine.

Taking her hand, Chat looked almost excited. The sight didn’t help her heart calm down, but still she bravely smiled back, channeling her inner Ladybug. She needed to look confident.

But no matter how 'Ladybug’ she tried to be, her heart was still racing. Her palms were still sweaty. There was also something squirming in her stomach, but Marinette refused the call them butterflies.

Why was she so stupidly nervous? They had known each other for five years. They were _best friends_. She had shared a bed with Alya a thousand times so why would this be any different?

She could do this. No big deal.

...Oh god, oh god, she was about to sleep in the same bed with _Chat Noir_.

A small, horrified squeak filled the room. Ashamed, Marinette let go of Chat’s hand and slapped both of her hands over her lips. Behind her, Chat stopped.

“Marinette, are you okay?”

“Yes!” Too loud. “I mean... yes, everything’s fine. Wonderful, actually. We’re going to sleep in the same bed, which is perfect. I’m definitely not freaking out.”

She mentally slapped her forehead. Great, she was babbling again and now Chat definitely knew she was nervous. Maybe this really was a bad idea. Chat had a crush on her anyway and _oh no_ , perhaps her own feelings weren’t as clear as she had initially thought and –

A gentle hand touched her shoulder, freezing her thoughts. She turned around, meeting her partner’s worried gaze. The already luminous green in his eyes seemed to shine even brighter in the dark room.

A blush quickly took over her cheeks as Marinette felt herself flush from head to toe. She cursed in her mind. Great, as if the situation wasn’t already awkward enough. Well, at least Chat couldn’t see her blush because the room was so dark.

“Hey, your cheeks are pretty red. Are you sure you’re feeling alright?”

Oh right, Chat and his cat eyes. This time, Marinette cursed out loud. She turned to look at the floor.

“I’m good”, she mumbled, sure that he could read the frustration in her voice. “Just great. Fine. Just like you’re fine. Not _fine_ like good-looking kind of fine, but, you know, pretty. P-pretty ugly! You’re fine, which means ugly, just like me. Oh god, what am I saying...”

Chat squinted his eyes. “Wait, are you... are you _blushing_ , Marinette?”

She didn’t need to see him to know that a smug grin had spread across his face. Her cheeks turned from light pink to bright red.

“You are blushing.”

“I’m not.”

Chat had the nerve to actually lean closer to examine her embarrassment. Wait, was that... Was that _adoration_ twinkling in his eyes?

“Aww, man, I haven’t been able to make you blush in such a long time. I mean, as Chat Noir at least.”

Marinette wrinkled her nose at him. She whirled around, keeping her chin up, hoping that Chat thought she was irritated. To tell the truth, she only did it so that she wouldn’t have to see the look on his face. The look that clearly screamed ' _wow, you're so amazing_ ’. Her stomach fluttered even more and she really didn’t want to deal with _feelings_ of all things in the middle of the night.

“Let’s just go before I change my mind!” she huffed, unnecessarily angry, and stomped up the stairs as quickly as she could. Chat followed her, humming some happy tune, practically dancing his way up. He even started singing, but the lyrics were so random that she was quite he was just making them up.

Ugh, why did he have to be so infuriating...

“You’re super cute! I’m super cute! Can’t you see that we’re meant to be! Ha!”

...and so damn lovable?

She pursed her lips tightly together, not saying a word. She was supposed to be annoyed after all.

“Hey...” Chat stopped singing, genuine concern leaking from his words. “We really don’t have to do this if it makes you uncomfortable. I can sleep on the divan, no big deal.”

Marinette had to exhale through the nose, slowly. Even then, she couldn’t stop her smile.

God, the truth was that Chat was so much more lovable than he was infuriating.

“Nah, it’s okay.” She could do this. They’d both sleep better knowing that the other was safe. “Just stay on your side of the bed. Don’t even think about cuddling.”

“You would enjoy it, though...”

“ _Chat_.”

Closing his eyes, the boy placed his hand over his heart, grinning widely. “You can trust me. I don’t move around much while I’m asleep anyway, so you don’t have to worry.”

It was strange how he didn’t look at all uncomfortable when he climbed into the bed. Frowning, Marinette couldn’t help but think that Chat Noir lying on her bed looked kind of... unnatural? Maybe it was the suit.

Telling herself that there was no reason to be nervous, she finally got into the bed, too. “Goodnight.“

“Night.”

Neither of them could fall asleep. It was nice and warm under the covers and the extra body in the bed doubled the warmth, but there was too much tension in the air for them to truly relax. At least that’s how Marinette felt. So, she just stared at the ceiling, wide-eyed.

The clock on the wall was suddenly too loud. The room wasn’t dark enough. Chat’s gentle breathing was distracting and her heart was about to jump out of her chest.

Sighing, she held her left hand up and for some reason stared at her ring finger like she had done the night before. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that Chat looked down at his own.

The air around them turned even heavier. Marinette’s thoughts were whirling.

“Can I ask you something?” she heard herself ask out of the blue.

“Sure”, Chat whispered back, but she was pretty sure she saw him gulp.

“How old are you?”

“Uh, 20.”

“Same here.”

Chat smiled. “Yeah, I know.”

Propping her head in her palm, Marinette turned on her side so that she could properly look at him. “Ok, so, you’re still pretty young. Here’s what I don’t get: out of all the things your memory got wrong, it decided that you’re already engaged at the age of 20. Why on earth would two _20-year-olds_ get engaged? Not a single sane person would do that.”

Her words caused a frown on his face. It was Chat’s turn to look at the ceiling. For a moment, he was quiet, clearly deep in thought as he pondered his answer. Finally he turned to study her face with a serious look in his eyes.

Marinette had a hard time maintaining eye contact. Chat was looking for something that just wasn’t there.

“What if it had been Adrien Agreste?”

The question took her completely by surprise. Something incoherent left her mouth as she stuttered, almost choking on her own saliva. She opened her mouth but closed it soon after, speechless. An imagine of Adrien’s kind eyes flashed in her mind.

“Wha– he’s just – I do _not_ like him – how did you –? _Argh_.”

The look in her partner’s eyes softened. “Yeah, I know about your crush.”

 _Inhale, exhale. Slowly_ , Marinette told herself. If Chat already knew then there was no point in denying it. Once she got over her initial shock, Marinette took a moment to really think about it.

She really liked Adrien. That, to be honest, wasn’t a secret. She reeeaaally liked Adrien. He was so wonderful and dreamy and nice... But having him as her fiancé? Right _now_? When they were both still so young?

A long sigh filled the quiet room as Marinette closed her eyes. “No”, she replied. “Like I told you, I just turned 20. If he proposed to me, I would say no.”

When she opened her eyes again, she didn’t expect Chat to look so surprised. He was blinking those vibrant eyes like she had completely misunderstood something.

“If he proposed...? Oh, no, no, Buginette.” Chat shook his head furiously, his fluffy hair hitting his cheeks. “It was your idea. You were the one who proposed.”

Marinette’s mind blanked for a second. She didn’t even realize she was shrieking before she felt her voice vibrating in her throat. “ _WHAT_?”

Chat shrugged. “I proposed to you three days later, though. So that we’d be even.”

Oh. Well, that explained why – according to Chat – they both had engagement rings. But ok wow, now she knew for sure that Chat was just imagining things. His brain was definitely messing with him.

“You’re lying.”

“What? I’m not!”

“Yeah, but just because you think it’s real, doesn’t mean it actually is.”

That stung. Deep, Marinette could see it in the way his eyes dulled and the way his body seemed to instantly flinch away from her. And to be honest, she winced at her own words, too. What she had said wasn’t fair.

Instinctively, she reached for his hand but stopped before she could touch him. What was she supposed to do? Chat was usually the one comforting her.

 _The invisible wall!_ Marinette reminded herself. The wall between her and Chat was getting bigger and bigger, and was only going to make things more complicated and painful than they needed to be. If she kept screwing up like this, one day it would be too late to fix their relationship.

Looking at Chat’s hurt expression, Marinette knew that she had to be the one to take the first step. Gathering up courage, she inhaled deeply, hoping that her voice wouldn’t tremble.

“Chat, do you really think that you don’t belong here?”

Even in the darkness she noticed how the boy tensed, his discomfort evident. Oh crap, she had shaped that question so wrong. It had sounded a lot better in her head!

“What... do you mean, exactly?” His voice was so small that she barely heard it.

“I mean, uh, do you think you’re from another universe?”

He hesitated. “You said that that’s crazy.”

“Maybe, but... _You_ aren’t. So...” Slowly, giving him enough time to pull away in case he didn’t want to be touched, Marinette cupped her partner’s face in her hands. She caressed his cheeks with her thumbs as tenderly as she could. “Do you think you’re in the wrong universe or not?”

There was a long pause.

Chat avoided her eyes. Marinette wondered if his heartbeat was anywhere near as loud as hers was right now. She wanted to press her head against his chest while holding his hand, but instead, all she did was listen to his nervous breathing. Her ears were quietly ringing.

She didn’t even know what she wanted his answer to be. No? Yes? Did she even want him to answer at all?

Finally, after what felt like hours, Chat breathed out a small “yes”.

Marinette didn’t expect to feel relief, but that’s what she felt anyway. Knowing that Chat could see her face thanks to his excellent night vision, she smiled and nodded at him.

“Alright then, I believe you”, she announced, serious. “And we’re going to fix this, I promise. Tomorrow. Right now we need sleep.”

Sadly, because her eyes weren’t as amazing as his were, Marinette couldn’t tell for sure if he returned the smile or not. Until, suddenly, his hand found hers. And when he squeezed her fingers firmly, Marinette was quite sure she knew the answer.

Maybe it wasn’t so bad to let Chat close after all, no matter who was right or wrong here.

But right before she fell asleep, Marinette heard his tiny, broken whisper.

“ _I just want to go home_.”

 

\- - - -

 

When the sunlight woke her up, Marinette was alone in her bed. Tikki was still asleep on the nearby bedside table. Whining and grumbling the girl sat up and blinked her eyes open, still only half awake.

Blinking again, Marinette looked around. For a minute, she thought that Chat had left again until she heard footsteps. The next moment the cat had already jumped up and onto her bed. Marinette couldn’t have stopped her inhuman shriek if she had tried.

“Good morning!” Chat beamed, unaffected by her wide-eyed expression. He offered her a box of macarons. “Did you sleep well? I did!”

Seeing the pretty turquoise box shocked her even more. This was too much for her sleepy heart.

“Did you go _downstairs_? Oh no, did my parents see you?” she croaked, horror shining in her eyes. Her voice almost cracked, still hoarse from sleep.

“Nah, I went to their bakery to get this.”

More surprises. “Wait, you went there as Chat Noir? Or as...”

“I would have gone as 'myself’ but I don’t have any money with me right now, so...”

“You _stole_ these?”

“What? No, no, of course not! I got the box for free.”

She gave him a long, flat look, eyeing him skeptically. “In other words, you took advantage of my parents.“

Chat crossed his arms over his chest. She had to admit, his pout was actually kind of cute.

“You make it sound so horrible. But since I work for them, it should be fine. I’ll just work twice as hard when I get back!”

Rubbing her eyes, Marinette yawned, her brows drawing together. For a moment, she was confused. Then it clicked. Gosh, her brain was really slow today, wasn’t it?

“Oh, right”, she mumbled, failing to stifle another yawn. “In the _other_ reality, you mean.”

“Yep.” If he noticed the hidden doubt in her voice, he didn’t let it show. He was clearly in a good mood. “But if you want, I can pay for the macarons later. With real money.”

She rolled her eyes when Chat winked and finger-gunned at her.

The only thing that had changed, really, was that her partner now knew her real name. Apart from that, everything was the same. He was still his goofy old self.

The thought that this person wasn’t actually her Chat Noir... Honestly, it was a lot to take in and was probably going to take a while before she actually believed it. _If_ what Chat was telling her was the truth.

Marinette scolded herself quietly. She had promised to trust him, promised that she would help him get back to his own life. What he was telling her _was_ the truth.

And she would get her Chat back. She missed him.

“So, this is how I wake up my fiancée pretty much every day.” Gosh, he sounded so proud. “Although, usually I also bring her hot chocolate with whipped cream and marshmallows.”

Her favourite.

“She’s, uhh, very lucky?”

Macarons for breakfast truly was quite unusual. Not to mention unhealthy. If the other Marinette really existed, she had better stop eating sweets every damn morning and go back to fruits and breakfast cereal.

Chat hummed happily, smiling so wide it must have hurt his cheeks. The look was so full of love that it somehow made her chest empty. He was thinking about someone else, someone who wasn’t really her.

Marinette allowed herself a moment to look at him. Chat was still humming, his blond hair sticking everywhere like a hurricane had hit him. The smile on his face reminded her of sunshine, and as much as it made her hollow, it was also contagious. Soon, Marinette found herself full on grinning at her partner, mirroring his expression.

It was a surprisingly good look on him.

Then she remembered that she had just woken up, too, and must have looked like an absolute mess. Why had she decided to wear her ugliest pajamas today of all days?

“Um, thank you for the macarons” she thanked him while unconsciously trying to fix her hair.

Chat nodded, still smiling. Then his eyes moved to her head.

Marinette’s hand froze. Her cheeks started to feel alarmingly warm again. Laughing awkwardly, she dropped her hand to her lap before it started to look too suspicious.

Chat tilted his head slightly, confused by her flustered state. Marinette wanted to bury her face in the pillow – she was definitely blushing again. Suddenly, Chat’s eyebrows shot up and he threw his head back in a loud laugh.

 _BANG_.

And hit the back of his skull with the bed’s headboard.

While he rubbed the sore spot, Marinette’s cheeks started to recover and turn to their normal colour. “You deserved that”, she said, a little pissed.

“Ow”, was all he managed.

“That’s what you get for laughing at me.”

“Ouch.”

It took her embarrassingly long to realize that he had hit the back of his head twice this week already. And the last hit had caused him amnesia.

Gasping, Marinette leaned forward to see the injury spot. She reached for his head, touching his soft hair. “Are you okay? Let me see.”

“It’s fine”, Chat insisted. “I did deserve that. It’s just... You look stunning, so don’t worry about it.”

Marinette leaned back, surprised by his words. She raised an eyebrow at him. He did the same.

“Anyway”, Chat said as he got up, still covering a part of his head with his hand. “See you later. I need to go home before my father or Na– I mean, um, only my father realizes that I’m gone. No one wants that, trust me.”

That sounded kind of worrying, but all she said was, “Oh, okay.”

Chat smirked. “And then we can start planning on how to get me out of here and back to _my_ Buginette.”

Marinette couldn’t help grimacing. God, this was all too crazy.

Before Chat could open the trapdoor that lead to the balcony, Marinette’s phone buzzed. The sound finally woke Tikki up. Marinette glanced down to read the text.

A new akuma had appeared.

Groaning loudly, she threw herself back on the bed. “It’s too early for this, agh...”

Chat, however, seemed excited. He licked his lips and rubbed his hands together. “Wow, Papillon and his butterflies... I feel pretty nostalgic.”

That earned another groan from the tired girl.

“Rise and shine, my lady! It’s time to save Paris!”

Oh well, said a little voice in her head as she transformed. Maybe a good old fight with an akuma would bring his memories back.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's only the 3rd chapter but they're already sharing the bed?? What kind of slowburn is this?? Are they going to KISS in the next one??!!?! smh
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! I'd love to hear your thoughts<3


	4. Not a new chapter

Hello, how is everyone? 

So, as you know, I haven't updated this story in MONTHS. I'm very sorry about that. Unfortunately, I'm never going to continue this fic, I've completely lost interest in mlb.

But, since I personally hate it when a fanfic I like never gets finished and I don't get to know the ending, I was wondering if any of you would like me to write, like, idk, a summary of how this story was supposed to end? I'd be more than happy to do that.

So! Please let me know if you'd like to read a summary of the rest of the story :) Thank you.


	5. "Chapter 4"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello, everyone! i just wanted to let you know that i have NOT forgotten about this story! i'm super duper busy right now (recently started my first university year! ^^) but i WILL write the rest of the summary at some point! 
> 
> for now, here's a rough summary of how chapter 4 would have happened:

  * The chapter starts with Ladybug and Chat Noir fighting an akuma. Chat is in a really cheerful mood, and Ladybug can't help but grin, too, whenever he flashes her a smile. It is a great feeling, being happyfor someonewho is feeling good.




 

  * So. Marinette decided to believe Chat and promised to help him get back to his world. After the fight, she suggests they go to Master Fu's place. If there's anyone who can help them, it's him. Chat agrees.

Unfortunately, the old man is more than surprised when Chat Noir tells him that he thinks he's from another universe. Just like Tikki, Fu has never encountered anything like this before in his life.

Fu's advice is to use Ladybug's Lucky Charm – it has the power to fix anything, after all. So, if there really is something to be fixed, Chat should be able to go back to his world and Marinette should be able get her Chat back.

Both Marinette and Chat Noir think it's a great idea! There's hope in Chat's eyes, and Marinette can't wait to see her adorkable partner again.

Although... she has to admit that it has been kind of nice – not the fact that Chat hit his head and got hurt, but the fact that the attention and affection he has shown her for the past few days has been more genuine than ever before. She already knows that she needs to sort out her feelings once her Chat comes back. She likes _Adrien_ , for goodness sake!




 

  * Chat comes to her room again later that night. They talk for a bit, both excited about tomorrow. Tomorrow is the day they'll finally try to send Chat back to his world. Chat is ecstatic the whole time, he can't wait to go home. He goes on and on about his life, happily telling Marinette everything about _his_ Marinette. He describes the apartment they share together, tells funny stories about their cat, doesn't stop mentioning how much he appreciates every single day...

While listening to Chat's stories, Marinette is shocked when she realizes that her heart also yearns for a life like that.

A life with him.

Chat goes to the balcony to detransform in order to call his father and tell him that he's staying at a friend's house tonight. Meanwhile, Plagg hangs out with Marinette and Tikki. The kwami believes Chat only has amnesia – mostly because he doesn't even want to consider the parallel universe possibility since that would mean that _his_ Adrien is somewhere alone, confused, scared and possibly in danger. And Plagg can do nothing to help him. Marinette feels for him.




 

  * They sleep in her bed again.

”No cuddling tonight either.”

”No cuddling, I promise.”

Morning comes. Marinette wakes up first, realizes that she's _spooning_ Chat and immediately freezes in shock. Oh _god,_ she was the one who had banned cuddling! She was the one who had told Chat to stay on his side of the bed! And yet _she's_ the one who screwed up!

Without warning, Chat wakes up, too, and turns to face her. Marinette's cheeks are red with embarrassment but her head is still too dizzy for her to let go of the boy. Chat chuckles when he notices she's hugging him. An adorably sleepy smile spreads across his lips.

”This is what my mornings look like”, he whispers.

Marinette's heart skips a beat. In that moment, she wants nothing more than to kiss him. And she almost does just that, but before she can, Chat yawns and gets up.

”Alright, Buginette! Today's the day!”

She tries hard to pretend she didn't just almost kiss him.




 

  * They transform and head to the top of the Eiffel Tower to get ready. Ladybug summons her Lucky Charm – this time it's a key.

”That's the key to our apartment!” Chat notes and shows her where the house is. Ladybug still has a hard time believing that in a parallel world they are rich enough to live next to the Eiffel Tower.

”Alright, let's hope this works.”

”It will. You'll see.”

”I'll miss you”, accidentally slips from her lips. But it is the truth.

Chat smiles. ”I will miss you, too. I love every version of you.”

She can't but laugh.

”One last word of advice...” Chat starts then, somewhat sheepishly. ”You know, um, about Adrien Agreste...”

”Yeah...?”

”Go for it.”

That's definitely not what she had expected to hear. ”Wha... what?”

”Tell him how you feel. It'll be fine.”

”Oh really? Shouldn't you be rooting for my Chat Noir, though?”

A shrug. ”I just want you to be happy.”

Ladybug beams at that. ”Thank you, Chat.”

She takes his hand and squeezes it gently to soothe him. Holding his hand soothes her nerves, too. Chat surprises her with a quick cheek kiss.

”He-hey!”

He just laughs. ”Ok, ok, I'm ready now.”

This is it.

Ladybug tosses the key into the air. It explodes; down comes red glitter.

Once the glitter fades, it's quiet for a moment. All Ladybug can hear is her own breathing.

There are no visible changes. Chat is still there and he looks exactly the same. But the light in his eyes is quickly dimming. All of a sudden, he drops to his knees.

”It... it didn't work.” Tears start to fill his eyes. ”Why? _Why didn't it work_?”

That is when reality strikes. There are no parallel universes. No other Marinettes.

It's all in his head.




 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, so that was chapter 4.
> 
> I hope it wasn't too messy! >.<


End file.
